Home detention for selling party drug

SALLY KIDSON

A 76-year-old grandmother and her 55-year-old daughter had "a nice little money-maker" selling the party drug BZP over the counter at their gift shop from their central Richmond home.

But the high ended yesterday when the pair were fitted with ankle bracelets.

Christine Edna Young, 55, and her mother Shirley Adeline Williams, 76, were sentenced in the Nelson District Court yesterday to eight months' home detention.

The mother-daughter duo had earlier admitted a charge of selling BZP to people over the age of 18.

Young, who the Crown said was the main offender in the drug operation, was also ordered to do 180 hours' community work.

Sentencing Judge Tony Zohrab said the women sold BZP over the counter at their gift shop Something Different, on Oxford St, near Washbourne Gardens, from September to January 25 this year.

A police search of the house and shop on January 26 uncovered "a substantial quantity of BZP" with an estimated street value of $20,000.

Judge Zohrab said police found 291 caps of BZP and 220 grams of the drug in a plastic bucket waiting to be packaged.

Police also seized scales, plastic zip bags and a tick list detailing money owed for the drug.

Young admitted selling capsules of the drug for $20 and said she sold 30 to 40 capsules, or $600 to $800 worth, a week.

She used the money to pay for groceries.

Young had agreed to package the drugs for someone else in exchange for getting some BZP for free.

Judge Zohrab said Williams sold the drugs over the counter from time to time but was unaware of the drugs in the other part of the house and didn't benefit financially from the sale of the drugs.

BZP is an amphetamine-type drug used in party pills and the Class C drug was made illegal in 2008.

Young had sold BZP when the drug was legal from her shop when it was based in central Richmond.

She got back into selling the drug because of financial difficulty and to provide for her mother and family. She was on a carer's benefit and money was tight and she couldn't think of another means to pay for basics such as food.

The judge said the evidence against the women was overwhelming, but they had no prior history before the court.

"In many respects this would almost be a comedy ... if it wasn't so serious."

The offending was not victimless, he said. And he warned the women they would go to jail if they tried a similar escapade again.

The women's gift shop, which had a range of soft toys, T-shirts, Tarot cards and incense for sale, was open after the sentencing yesterday morning.

Young told the Nelson Mail she was approached to sell the BZP on behalf of a health group who wanted someone trustworthy to sell it to drug users to prevent them going back to harder drugs, and she was disappointed this had not come out in court.

This person told her the drug was about to be made legal again.

"I thought I was doing something that was a Government thing, or through the right authorities.

"They wanted somebody they could trust and somebody who wasn't likely to take the drugs themselves, somebody they could trust with these people."

She agreed to sell the drug because she was in financial strife and she wouldn't have done it if she didn't need to do it to survive, she said.

"It was really to provide for my family."

Young said the person who sold her the drugs came to her and she didn't ask too many questions.

Looking back she agreed she had been naive.

"Of course it was a silly thing to do in retrospect."

She was keen to get on with her life and leave the whole thing behind her.

She was concerned at the effect it was having on her mother, who had been victimised by her Spiritualist Church as a result of the offending.

In court yesterday Young's lawyer, John Sandston, said Young was remorseful and had known the drug was illegal. She was on the benefit and her economic circumstances were very poor. Her offending was not done out of greed.

Williams' lawyer, Hamish Riddoch, said his client's health was bad, she was almost totally blind and cared for by her daughter.

Her role in the venture was minor and she did not profit from it, although she was aware it was illegal.

"She's totally remorseful about the whole activity and has been punished because of the publicity and people who have found out about this have withdrawn including her church."

Crown prosecutor Sophie O'Donoghue said the women had been running an organised "little money maker" selling the BZP.

Miss O'Donoghue said the women played an essential role in the supply chain of BZP and Young had played an active role in sourcing the drug.

Nelson Alcohol and Drug Clinic manager Eileen Varley said she was aware of clients who had bought from the shop and even had a tab there. Since the women had been arrested she believed the supply of BZP in the region had been shut down.

- © Fairfax NZ News